Mirth is the sweet wine of human life. It should be offered sparkling with zestful life unto God.

Cheerfulness is being treated as valuable and slightly rare, something to be handled with care rather than poured out carelessly. Whether or not you would direct it upward, the underlying suggestion stands on its own: laughter is not a trivial by-product of a decent life but one of the better things it produces. It deserves better than being spent on cruelty or used to dodge a conversation.

Notice what your humour does this week. Some of it opens a room and some of it holds people at arm’s length. Spending more of it on the first is a small decision that changes how it feels to be around you.